


Tribes go to War

by Activeimagination



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 11:13:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11508246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Activeimagination/pseuds/Activeimagination
Summary: Saw an idea on Twitter last night and it planted this seed. The truth is out and Aaron finds his inner Dingle.





	Tribes go to War

Tribes go to War 

Something was wrong, something was not sitting right. Aaron had been slowly pacing around the Mill for thirty minutes. At this moment in Hotton General a woman was in labour, a baby was about to be born. He looked at the date on his phone again, a year to the day since the man he loves, still loves, had pulled him from a submerged car. For the tenth time he scrolled back through his calendar, a rudimentary count of months showed the baby was premature. By at least a month if not five or six weeks. Chas had told him that was not abnormal. It was the comment Vic made that that was strange. She had said that Rebecca had her bag ready, that it was as well even though she, super aunty in waiting that she was, thought it silly and had said that a fortnight earlier when she noticed said bag in Rebecca’s bedroom. 

Robert was not even in the country. He had gone to the continent on a run with Jimmy, something about wanting to see how logistics were working out. He and Robert had been in the café when Rebecca had reacted badly to him going and had said about him possibly going to miss the birth. Aaron had been proud of himself by being restrained and pointing out Rob was going for less than a week and that there was plenty of time. 

He smiled to himself. They were getting back to a better place. It has started slowly, he was working on himself, getting to a better place. Then he realised that pieces of the jigsaw, as his Mum had termed it, might be missing. Those pieces came in the form of a tall blond man. The man that had been hovering in the background since the end of July and who had gone nuts when he had started boxing. In the middle of September they had literally ran into each other in the bar, the greeting was pleasant. Rob had taken his drink to a corner booth and sat down. He looked lost and alone, although Aaron knew he was somewhat involved in bringing Rebecca to the odd appointment. This had not grated on him, he had gone through a lot of things with his counsellor. Aaron had taken a deep breath and walked over  
‘Mind some company?’  
Robert had looked up and smiled.

From there it started, date nights followed, walks, coffees, cinema, trips to town. He was getting ready to ask him to move home, to maybe even have a cot for the baby, Liv was excited. She had forgiven Robert and had been quietly pushing Aaron towards making the next step. That step was going to happen quicker now, he was ready but something was telling him that this was all strange. What if? He thought, what if this baby was coming exactly on schedule and if that was the case then everything was different. 

oOo

Robert had arrived home a day after the birth. He had gone to the scrapyard before the hospital. Like a little boy he needed Aaron’s reassurance that things would be alright.  
‘Robert, I am in a better place. I feel that I can deal with this now, you have a child to see now’  
‘Would you like to come, I’d like that but only if you want’  
‘I’ll take a pass on that, the lad is very early, I’m sure he in one of those thingys so maybe in a few days, ok?’  
‘Sure, I…’  
‘I know, me too’  
They kissed gently. 

oOo

‘Where is he?’  
Aaron had driven quickly to the cottage Diane and Doug shared. She had called him.  
‘He’s upstairs in the room, he just walked up there when he came back from the hospital, he looked awful, said nothing, there’s something wrong, I’d have sent for Vic only’  
‘It’s ok, I’ve got this’

He entered the room gently, Robert was on the floor, head between his knees and eyes red from crying.  
‘Rob, what’s wrong, has something happened, is the baby ok?’  
Robert looked up, he said nothing.  
Aaron sat down beside him and dragged him into an embrace.  
‘Come on, you can tell me, I’m here, what has happened?’  
‘He isn’t mine’  
Aaron looked at him.  
‘Oh Aaron, I went in expecting him to be in some unit and he was in a little cot beside her. It was a relief. Then the doctor just came in, I said that he must be ok for a baby that was premature’  
The sobs came.  
‘He said a few days either way was not unusual’  
‘Oh God Robert, I’m sorry, what did she say?’  
‘Not much, she knew from the first scan but by that stage Ross had turned on her and Vic was supporting her’  
He burst into tears.  
‘Aaron…Aaron’ he was trying to speak in between sobs, ‘this, this nearly destroyed everything, it, I made you go back to hurting yourself….’  
‘Ssh, Robert, I’m here, let it out’ 

oOo

Days passed, Aaron had brought Robert home but he was a shell of a man. Not eating, barely sleeping. It was almost a complete breakdown. When he did speak, it was not about the baby, it was about how he had destroyed everything, how Aaron had hurt himself over all this, how he deserved to be treated like this. It broke Aaron’s heart.

He talked to his Mum about it and in the middle of the conversation Cain walked in.  
‘You are a Dingle’  
‘Yeah and what has that to do with it?’  
‘Start acting like one. Your man is hurting, you were hurt, the cause is the same, I know what I would do’

oOo

Aaron was not the only person upset and concerned for Robert. Victoria was trying to deny her pain by being angry on her brother’s behalf. She had done all she could for Rebecca and was seething at it all. Now Aaron was in her sitting room.  
‘We have to do something’  
‘What can we do Aaron, we are doing our best for him, he will get better’  
‘I know, I’m talking about her’  
‘Rebecca’  
‘Yes, her. She knew Vic, she knew almost from the beginning. She saw what it was doing to me, to him, to us. He is broken Vic, in bits and I am not going to let her away with it’  
‘Aaron, you can’t do anything stupid, you will end up back inside and that would finish him completely’  
‘I have no intention of doing anything stupid, that is why you are coming with me’

oOo

Home Farm. The place he and Robert had spent their first ever large chunk of time together. The place he had outed him eventually and now the place where he was going to lay cards firmly on the table. 

‘I don’t know what I can say, I did what I thought was best for the baby, for my son’  
‘Bull, your only interest was him’  
‘Aaron, I swear’  
‘Look love you might have gone to some posh schools but I aint a mug. You have wanted to be in his pants since the minute you walked off that helicopter. We both know it’  
‘Vic, I didn’t, you know that, I, I miss you’  
‘Don’t make me laugh you silly cow’  
‘Vic’  
‘What Aaron?’  
‘We are not going to let ourselves down, remember?’  
‘Rebecca, we are not here to hurt the baby, I want to make that clear. You did what you did and we both know why. It was never going to work, you know that.’  
She did not answer, she could not.  
‘We are going to be stronger than ever. I’m better and I’m going to make damn sure he gets better and you will be a distant memory. The trust will be abolished, you owe him money and you will never come near us again. When we walk into the pub you walk out, that’s if you can face staying around’  
‘Vic please’  
‘I’m with Aaron, you and your sister tried to destroy both my brothers’  
‘I’ve said what I came to say, stay out of our way from now on’

They walked towards the door.  
‘He was no angel, he wanted me, he enjoyed it, I could tell and then vile creature that he is ordered me to leave when he had his way’  
Aaron swung around.  
‘He did what?’  
‘Ordered me to leave, yeah that is the man you love Aaron.’  
‘Where is his scar, you have such a good memory of that night, where is the scar from the shooting’  
‘I…I don’t know, his chest’  
‘You slag’  
‘Aaron, come on we’re finished here’  
‘No Vic we are not. You see Rebecca, when Robert told me everything he said he passed out and that you were gone when he woke up, so when did he order you to leave and where is the scar’  
‘I want you to leave, I’ll call the police’  
‘Do, I think entrapment might be a crime’  
‘Leave now’  
‘Where is the scar?’, for the first time since he had entered the house his voice was raised.  
‘I can’t remember’  
‘You see I know him, I know when he is lying, always have. He thinks he had sex with you and then passed out. Except he passed out before, didn’t he’  
‘No’  
‘What’s the point now Rebecca? I always wondered how you know, kind of irked me’  
‘Sorry’  
‘You see Rebecca, Robert is usually amazing in bed, we both know that’  
‘Aaron, for the love of everything I don’t need to hear this’  
‘Just a minute Vic’  
‘But when he is drunk, he is all talk and little action. And…’, his voice was quickening, ‘sometimes he just assumes we did it because he remembers being up for it, in his head that is because he can rarely get anything up when he is that badly gone’  
‘Please go’, Rebecca grabbed her stomach.  
‘You’re not pregnant anymore Rebecca’, Vic was seeing where Aaron was going, ‘Did you two even have sex that night, please Rebecca, we were friends, I took you in’  
Rebecca was blinking fast but knew there was hardly a point.  
‘No’, it was barely a whisper, ‘he wanted to, I did too, we fell on the bed and he mumbled something and then conked, he wanted to though’  
Aaron had tears in his eyes.  
‘No Rebecca, he wanted to hurt me but he did not want to sleep with you. And now we know he didn’t’  
‘Just because he was drunk’  
‘That was the only reason you were there in the first place, the only reason he texted you, he was drunk’  
He walked towards her and whispered in her ear  
‘I lied, no matter how wasted he is he can have sex with me, because he wants it, you silly woman. Have a good life, I feel sorry for your son’

 

oOo

‘So I didn’t even…’  
‘No, couldn’t get it up mate’  
‘It’s not funny Aaron, I hurt you and you were hurting yourself. I thought I was going to be a Dad, I lost you’  
‘Robert, look at me, you are a jig saw’  
‘What?’  
‘It’s from my Mum, look you are a jig saw, we all are. Made up of loads of different parts. Now it’s time to put it all back together’  
‘With each other?’  
‘Yes each other, I was ready Robert, Liv and I had a cot on order and all.’  
‘Won’t need that now’  
‘Not yet, look some day who know but for now it’s you, me, Liv, our family’  
‘Messed up, forever, yeah?’  
‘Nah, less of the messed up but forever definitely’


End file.
